Owner: Any Major Dude With Half A Heart URL:http://halfhearteddude.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:42:27 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Songs that will be cool, songs that once were cool, and sticking it to the Taste Gestapo. Rock, pop, folk-rock, alt.country, nostalgia etc Site statistics:Click here
Music for Bloggers Vol 2 2007-08-07 08:04:00 Here is the second installment of my favourite blogs (and a couple of bloggish websites). Again, my apologies if someone feels ignored -- they may well feature next time.FullundieI might be easily impressed, but as a '60s and '70s soul fan, I am constantly blown away by Fullundie's collection of soul albums from the era, many of which were already difficult to find when LPs could still be bought at record shops. Fullundie is a goldmine. Here's one of my favourite '70s soul songs (just noticed that I forgot to correct the filename. Sloppy! It's correct in the ID tag):The Five Stairsteps - Ooh Child.mp3Mr AgreeableBritish music writer David Stubbs is a genius. His site is not really a blog, but a collection of incisive articles and pure comedy. The Reaper is particularly brilliant, slaying sacred cows with asinine wit and knife-sharp logic. Also check out his Match Reports of England's football games as written from the perspective of an old aristocratic xenophobe who believes th Read more:Music
Pissing off the Taste Police with America 2007-08-06 13:52:00 While we wait for the final two installments of the Songbirds series, let's piss off the Taste Gestapo by focussing on one of the most underappreciated groups of the '70s: America
(who have just released their first studio album in 20 years, incidentally).Yeah, I know, "Horse With No Name" has no cool factor, and remains the butt of many jokes. Oddly, I can't think of any other #1 hit about drugs that enjoys so little credibility as "Horse". Probably because it isn't a very good song. Alas, because it is America's best-known song, the group's entire folk-rock legacy is tarnished. And that is a great shame, for there is much in America's catalogue that is, at least within its genre, admirable. And if America was good enough to be produced by George Martin, who are we to argue?Granted, America didn't set out to shift musical boundaries. Indeed, they were in a large measure derivative, owing much to the various groups that donated their frontmen to Crosby, Stills & Nash (and, for Read more:Police
The Songbirds: Vol 3 2007-08-10 03:03:00 Rosie ThomasFour very good albums down the road, and Rosie Thomas remains obscure enough to impress the Eva Cassidy Consensus -- the type of people who rave about this posthumously overrated singer as if there aren't dozens better ones -- with something superior. Detroit-born Rosie (by all accounts an utterly delightful woman) knows how to create a mood. Relaxed, cute and humorous one moment, you wish you were with her to share a giggle, next she moves the listener to tears with her beautiful melodies and poignant lyrics. Songs like "Much Farther To Go", with the gorgeous arrangement and the sad lyrics ("Sometimes I cry when it's late at night, and you're not there to lay next to me. Morning breaks and the sun warms my face...how I wish it was you warming me") reach deep into the listeners' soul. Likewise, "If This City Never Sleeps", which opens Rosie's latest album, communicates in sound and words the sort of undefinable yearning that makes us sigh uncontrollably for no good re
Casablanca mash-up 2007-08-09 11:44:00 One of the greatest moments in film history is in one of the greatest movies in film history, Casablanca
. The boorish Nazis have commandeered Sam's piano and are singing the German song of patriotism (and one-time German anthem), "Die Wacht am Rhein". Victor Laszlo, the Czech resistance fighter with a Hungarian moniker, observes the scene, and orders the Rick's Café houseband to play the Marseillaise (presumably not banned even in Vichy). The bandleader looks to Rick, who nods his head, as Captain Renault gravely observes the scene (a brilliantly acted wordless performance by Claude Rains, whose face betrays disgust and deliberations about how he will have to serve his own interests). With Laszlo conducting, the band strikes up the French national anthem, and the assembled United Nations of usual suspects and refugees, including the SS-blowing fungirl, lustily joins in. Nazi Germany is drowned out, despite Major Strasser's best efforts to rouse his band -- and our collective neckha
Pissing off the Taste Police with Neil Diamond 2007-08-13 05:46:00 Forget the smoothie housewives' favourite with the lamé jacket, blow-dry and black-dye coiffure, hairy chest, cowboy boots and glittering name prone to singing lame songs about forever living in blue jeans and nauseating duets with Barbra Streisand. The pre-crooner Neil Diamond should be ranked as a pop legend. Alas, the Lamé & Steisand cheesiness robbed this great songwriter of credibility and respect.It's an injustice. Divorce Lamé Neil from his earlier incarnation as the writer and performer of songs that should be regarded as classics, and revisit his back catalogue. You will find works of near-genius there. Then, if you will, listen to his 2005 album 12 Songs, produced by Rick Rubin, to discover that the man has lost nothing, even in his 60s.The fact that Diamond ranks third in the all-time bestselling Billboard Charts list — after Elton John and Babs — should neither impress (I mean, look who's second) nor repel. With Neil Diamond there is no need to analyse socio-musi Read more:Police
The Songbirds: Vol 4 2007-08-12 06:39:00 The final installment of the Songbirds, for now (there are still a few more who need bigging up, but we'll do that later in the curriculum). So, I've featured 20 Songbirds; add your own favourites, and here should be abundant material for a brilliant mix-tape (or double CD-R).Deb TalanDeb Talan is one half of the Weepies, whom I utterly love, their silly name notwithstanding. Steve Tannen and Deb Talan were acoustic folk-musicians in their own right and fans of one another before they met. When they did, they became the Weepies (and a couple, or so I've heard). The two Weepies albums are great, with just enough of an edge to offset their inherent and appealing twee cuteness. Talan's solo stuff (which -- shame on the world -- is not easy to find) is much in the same vein as the Weepies. Check out these excellent recordings of Talan live solo and the Weepies in concert (both endorsed by the artists), from 2003 and 2004 respectively. The latter yielded the Pablo Neruda-inspired "Cher
Blog rolled 2007-08-18 14:28:00 We interrupt this transmission to note the fact that this blog has been blog rolled in The Guardian today, as was Mr Agreeable (who, I hope, takes greater delight in having featured in my Music For Bloggers series).Now Any Minor Dude wants to be featured in The Guardian's blog roll, too. Hey, let's show the little dude some love and click on his link.
Time travel: 1971 2007-08-18 07:24:00 I have mentioned that I was a music fan even as a toddler. In 1971 I progressed from being a turntable (see here) to DJ. On my fifth birthday (around the time the photo here of my brother, left, and me was taken), I received a portable turntable, one similar to that pictured, where the speaker doubled as a lid. A few months later I bought my first record.1971 was also the year when I began selecting which TV programmes to watch. Bonanza was a particular favourite of mine, and I fervently watched the Hitparade, presented monthly on Saturday evenings by the fast-talking Dieter Thomas Heck. The Hitparade featured only German-language Schlager, sung live to a backing track. Invariably, male singers -- many of them with anglicised stagenames like Chris Roberts, Ricky Shayne or Freddy Quinn -- would be presented with flowers by blushing teenage fans who'd run up to them mid-performance.Danyel Gerard - Butterfly.mp3My passion for the Hitparade was cemented during the long weeks when Danyel
Time travel: 1966-70 2007-08-16 10:58:00 Having revisited the '80s, Any Major Time Machine is now zapping to the late '60s and the '70s. I'll relive my formative years through the medium of music. As with the '80s series, the songs are selected not for quality, but because they can evoke memories of a particular time, much the way a smell can. This means that the quality of songs will evolve as I grew older.The first installment covers the years 1966, the year of my birth, to 1970. Thereafter we'll take it one year at a time. By all accounts, I was a music nut as a toddler (see Any Major Toddler on the sidebar), pretending to be one of those record players where you can stack ten singles on a spindle. When the song is finished, the arm moves back, and the next record drops to be played. So I used to run around with the left index finger in the air, the right hand imitating the rotation of the record on the turntable, crooning a song (usually child-star Heintje, of whom I was a huge fan, apparently). Then the song would
Most and least popular Top 20s 2007-08-16 07:04:00 Call me anal (and here we welcome and immediately say farewell to the accidental visitors from Google) and Hi-Fidelityish, but when I check if links are still alive, I make a note of how many times a file has been downloaded, partly to know what kind of music you, dear reader, have great or little interest in. I suspect that some of the least
downloaded songs were overlooked first time around, and some of the most popular
leeched (I mean, fucking Hinder!). Or is German right-wing singer Heino really more sought after than Crowded House's finest song delivered in its ultimate interpretation?Looking at the least downloaded songs (of those posted before August 4):20. Bongo Maffin - Mari Ye Phepha 62 (South African kwaito group; try it)18. Kate Walsh - Is This It 61* (Her other song was DLed 193 times. Did they all buy the CD afterwards?)18. Richard Cheese - She Hates Me 61 (That is actually a really funny take)17. Johnny Cash - I Hung My Head 59* (It's because it was a Sting son
That Elvis guy... 2007-08-15 15:13:00 Having been notified that it is a legal requirement as an MP3 blogger (law abiding folks, us) to mark the 30th anniversary of Elvis
Presley's death on August 16, I hereby wish to fulfill my contractual obligation.See, I can't be described as much of an Elvis fan. Oh, I did manage to bang together a decent CD-R comp of the man's music, and at one point I was enough of a fan to investigate his output beyond greatest hits samplers. I like a lot of Elvis songs — but I'm more liable to dig out "Highway To Hell" than any Elvis album of any era.In a year's time, I'll be the same age as Elvis was when he died. I used to think Vegas Elvis was an old codger (unlike me in a year's time, of course). In a way, that drug-addled bloatmonster was an old codger. The colonel, Dr Nikopoulous and the Memphis Mafia had aged the man beyond his years.Better to remember Elvis in glorious monochrome (though you may colour in the jacket pink), when he was supposedly the "King of Rock 'n Roll". He wasn
Time travel: 1973 2007-08-20 14:05:00 By 1973 I could read, thanks to my Grade 1 teacher, Frau Thailer. When we returned to school for Grade 2, Frau Thailer was gone. A bit of a free thinker who probably was well into the Spirit of '68, Frau Thailer had given us sex-ed lessons, telling us that the male organ was not called a "Pipi", but a "penis", explaining in non-lurid but sufficiently clear terms how babies are made. Clearly her explanations were not so graphic for us 6-7 year-olds as to persuade us to attempt practical application of what we had learned (even at 9, we still entertained the idea that French kissing could lead to pregnancy), but some of the parents complained. So Frau Thailer, to our confused consternation, was fired. Her replacement, the older and more conservative Frau Froese, was very nice indeed, and took a particular liking to me. Still, the treatment Frau Thailer had received was the first instance of my developing an attitude against The Man.Being able to read was a revelation for me. Towards the
Time travel: 1972 2007-08-18 15:16:00 1972 was the year I became conscious. By that I mean that from age six onwards I have more of a narrative memory than from the time before. 1972 was the year I started school (getting one of those huge cylindrical things filled with sweets), became interested in the news (I remember following the Munich massacre), TV was great (Star Trek, Hitparade, Partridge Family, Sergeant Percy, Der Bastian), and I kicked off my fascination with the English language, thanks to the transmission of US episodes of Sesame Street (shown in West Germany to test whether parents would accept such a revolutionary TV concept). My love affair with the English language would not find expression for another five years, but Big Bird, Oscar and Ernie (and Gordon and Susan and Bob) sowed a seed. And I was in Kiel during the sailing segment of the Olympic Games. Sounds grandiose, but I don't remember seeing any sailing boats, only the hotel and my mother buying me a book about Sammy the seal.1972 was a happy year.
Time travel: 1975 2007-08-26 10:00:00 When Nat "King" Cole sang about those hazy, lazy days of summer, he might have had in mind my nostalgic memories of the summer of 1975 (or perhaps not, as Nat didn't know me, having died before I was born). I wonder whether I'm alone in remembering the weather of my childhood only in extremes: beautiful sunny days or lovely snow suitable for sled riding, plus some of those rainy days when it is actually fun to stay indoors. This picture of the nine-year-old Dude is a summer photo, taken upon arrival in Blåvand, Denmark. I am Any Major King of Style here, sporting the quintessential German high-fashion look: sandals and socks (preferably dark), too short shorts, and anugly t-shirt (depicting a theme for the US bicentennial celebrations a year later). Don't try that at home, kids.Sweet Sensations - Sad Sweet Dreamer.mp3Cheese ahoy? I doubt this song gets much airplay even on retro radio stations. Yet, it truly evokes the '70s. And doesn't it sound a bit like lovechild of the Jackso
Time travel: 1974 2007-08-24 03:05:00 1974 was the year of football. The world cup was staged in West Germany, and the host nation obligingly won the tournament, beating the Netherlands in the final. These 1o men who will always be heroes to me, plus Uli Hoeneß, who won't. I had attended my first football match a few weeks earlier (a qualification match for the newly formed Oberliga Nord); by the time Gerd Müller — the greatest centre-forward of all time — scored the winner against the Dutch, I was totally hooked on football, memorising the most useless of minutiae. The day after the final, we went to our annual vacation in a holiday village appropriately named Damp 2000 in Schleswig-Holstein. Funny how the idea of the year 2000 was so distant and futuristic in the '70s. Today you wouldn't advertise a futuristic idea by invoking the year 2033.Ike & Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits.mp3Released in 1973, this became a hit in West Germany in 1974. I had no idea about the funk, but "Nutbush City Limits" planted the se
Superstars of the future 2007-08-24 02:29:00 On Wednesday I attended Any Minor Dude's school's Music Evening. Normally I would dread these things, despite all the loving efforts made by the teachers and pupils at entertaining the assembled parents and the occasional grandparent. Wednesday night's event was, however, very enjoyable. The hall was beautifully set up, and some of the paintings by the pupils on display were quite artistic.I was well up for the evening, because my son and his friend Thabo were in the line-up, schedulled to appear towards the end of the programme. Until then we had to sit through a series of periodically ropey but brief piano recitals of things like "Yankee Doodle Dandy", and obligingly applaud these kids, because for them it was a big evening. One must not be churlish, but appreciate the dedicated hours of rehearsing that went into their performances. Besides, our default expectation at such events must lean towards the ropey by virtue of the performers still learning the art of making music. They w Read more:Superstars
Pissing off the Taste Police with Billy Joel 2007-09-02 09:09:00 Billy Joel is the big kahuna in the Pissing off the Taste Police
stakes. I’ve copped hideous abuse for confessing my love for some of the music of Billy Joel, without embarrassment (because apologising for enjoying certain music is for losers). Oh, I can see why people might hate Billy Joel’s music, or even the man. “River Of Dreams” and “We Didn’t Start The Fire” are appalling and should never be heard again. When I say I like Billy Joel, I’m talking about his golden years, stretching from Turnstiles (1976) to Songs In The Attic (1981), with the patchy Piano Man (1973) and 1982's The Nylon Curtain (and perhaps some of An Innocent Man from 1983) bookending that phase (and ignoring 1974's Streetlife Serenade, except for its fine title track). And even then, there are some tracks that leave our man open to abuse: the overplayed “Just The Way You Are”, for example, or almost all of 1980’s rubbish Glass Houses. And yet, there is so much that Joel’s haters tend to Read more:Billy
, Billy Joel
Show some love for Richard Hawley 2007-08-30 07:23:00 Richard Hawley was born into the wrong times. The one-time Pulp sideman’s heart resides with the torchsong singers of the ’50s and ’60s, with Scott Walker and his Belgian archetype, Jacques Brel.While the likes of Rod Stewart and Robbie Williams issue campish karaoke homages (or chash cows, you decide) to the Rat Pack, Hawley has crafted an original sound that is at once nostalgic and contemporary. His songs are originals, often of such musical depth and quality that one yearns for the Capitol-years Sinatra to cover them. Curse the human cycle of ageing and death for denying us the opportunity to hear Sinatra (or “Frank”, if you're Bono) sing the title track of 2005’s Coles Corner. In absence of this option, one might wish to encourage Scott Walker to abandon the unlistenable din he is noq creating in favour of covering some Hawley — the utterly gorgeous "Valentine" from the exquisite new album, Lady’s Bridges, suggests itself. And, oh, to have heard Johnny Cash singin Read more:Richard
Time travel: 1977 - Part 2 2007-09-25 10:02:00 When we parked Any Major Time Machine yesterday, my father had died and the beastly Roland had been shoved out of the way so that I could hold close the lovely Antje to the romantic strains of Mr Rod Stewart. As we resume our journey through 1977, we find Any Major 11-year-old becoming obsessed with music. Where the teen magazine Bravo used to be a cursory presence, it now became my bible. The posters, coming in three sizes, became subject to negotiation in the bedroom my younger brother and I shared. We had worked out a deal whereby our choice of posters would alternate weekly. And so the Bay City Rollers and fake-Red Indian Winnetou resided side by side. Things came to a head when one week the double-sided "superposter" featured a sub-BCR outfit called the Dead End Kids, in colour, and Jimi Hendrix in monochrome on the reverse. Brother thought the DEK gimps looked appealing, I thought Hendrix -- of whom I knew nothing -- looked as cool as Mr Ice the freezer salesman waiting for winte
Time travel: 1977 - Part 1 2007-09-24 04:47:00 1977 was a seminal year. In June my father died suddenly, a significant event in anyone's life. In mine, it turned things upside down (and, boy, it turned me). 1977 was also the year when I began taking pop music more seriously, beginning roughly as of September that year. Rather than music arbitrarily scoring the soundtrack to my childhood, I would to a large degree decide what music should accompany me in my youth (of course, the random selections on radio, TV, fairgrounds, school discos and so on would leave me exposed to often poisonous songs which continue to haunt me). My increasing sophistication would become apparent only in 1978, however.In 1977, I also discovered the life-changing properties of the hard-on, of the selective and involuntary variety (you needed to know that, right?). I had my first slow dance and my first French kiss -- a lot of action for an 11-year-old. Lest anyone ascribe precocious Casanovaean tendencies to me, I should hasten to point out that this would
Time travel: 1976 2007-09-22 07:14:00 After a major service, Any Major De Lorean is ready to time travel again, continuing my series of 1970s nostalgia as we wing over to 1976. As ever, the songs here are selected purely on strength of their ability to evoke my experiences of that year, much like a smell can transport one back to a certain time. So, my 1976: it was a hot summer; my brothers and I were packed off to a church summer camp (which I hated) for the first time; I left primary school and came to a school I came to despise; and Christmas was great. In other words, it was all pretty boring.Abba - Fernando (live).mp3If it was 1976, there had to be Abba. I recall buying the "Mamma Mia" single for my elder brother, and would have posted that. But I suspect everybody who has any interest in Abba will have that already. Instead, here is a 1977 live recording of the other inescapable Abba hit of 1976: "Fernando", a song that had a magnificently naff video.Maxine Nightingale - Right Back To Where We Started From.mp3Releas
Cheer up 2007-09-20 10:51:00 In the southern hemisphere, spring has sprung. It's two days before payday. I've heard the new Foo Fighters album, and like it so much it may well become my favourite of Grohl's gang (even if "Erase Replace" is crap). Payday is looming on the horizon like the sunrise after a torrid night. There are many reasons to be of good cheer. So here a few songs that cheer me up:Foo Fighters - Cheer
Up Boys (Your Makeup Is Running).mp3The post needs a theme song, and it was either David Ford's great "Cheer Up (You Miserable Fuck) or this fine rocker from Foo Fighter's brandnew album (thanks to Serenity Now, by the way).Hello Saferide - I Was Definitely Made For These Times.mp3I utterly love Hello Saferide. This is the new single, the first to be released in the UK (the single also includes "The Quiz", one of the finest songs of this decade, and I'm not exaggerating; direct download link). The track references the Beach Boys and has an exuberant Motown feel to it, with the handclaps. Play it
Halloween comes early 2007-09-13 09:02:00 I have prepared a mix CD-R for a brandnew blog I'm helping with, on the theme of Halloween
(I made a cover, too, to show how "creative" I am). So, get in early for the celebration of the feast day of All Saints, with all the pumpkins and trick-and-treating, even in parts of the world where there is no tradition of such things.Tracklisting:1. Eels - Marie Floating Over The Backyard (2005)2. Clem Snide - Evil vs Good (2001)3. Jim Stafford - Swamp Witch (1973)4. Stan Ridgway - Camouflage (1986)5. The Go! Team - Phantom Broadcast (2005)6. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil (1968)7. Procol Harum - A Salty Dog (1969)8. Johnny Cash - Hung My Head (2002)9. Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow (1997)10. Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (2005)11. Mazzy Star - Taste Of Blood (1990)12. Imogen Heap - Getting Scared (1998)13. The Cure - Close To Me (acoustic) (2001)14. Springbok Nude Girls - Baby Murdered Me (1997)15. Foo Fighters - Hell (2005)16. Marilyn Man Read more:comes
Show some love for Jens Lekman 2007-09-10 08:11:00 When I found out a couple of months ago that Jens Lekman was going to release a new album, the butterflies in my stomach were tripping like hippies on an amphetamine-aided acid trip. I was turned on to Lekman's music in 2005 by his utterly glorious Oh Jens, You're So Silent, a compilation of EP tracks (our man has issued copious numbers of EPs). I still prefer it over his fine full debut, When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog (2004).And so I approached Night Falls Over Kortedala with much indulgent good will. I was delighted when Jens started off in vintage Scott Walker-mode (for all his vocal limitations, Jens is Scott's natural indie heir) on "I Remember Every Single Kiss". I tapped my toes, aggressively out of rhythm for all the excitement, when "Sipping On The Sweet Nectar" revealed itself as a Philly Soul groove incorporating strings that belong to the theme of a ’70s TV cop show. I loved "The Opposite Of Hallelujah", which I had heard before, for maintaining the happy ’70s
Music for bloggers Vol. 3 2007-09-07 05:36:00 And some more love for other people's blogs. As always, if your blog isn't on here but you think it should be, there will be more music for bloggers
yet. And, as always, let's boost Any Minor Dude's hit quotient, even if he is a bit lax about updating it. He put up a great new post of Khoisan cave paintings. The lad was a bit annoyed that The Guardian blogrolled my blog (on August 18), but not his... Please open links by right-clicking and opening a new window or tab; I'd hate to lose you.girlonatrainThe public transport utilising girl writes one of those personal blogs that usually appeal only to the blogger's friends. Beth's off-beat wit, likability and the twist of playlisting each post gives this blog great entertainment value. As a bonus, occasionally Beth (one of the lovely souls who leaves comments to my posts) uploads music, including a bootleg of last month's Rilo Kiley gig in Manchester. The Kevin Devine song is about a guy on a train who imagines a female passenger' Read more:Music
Show some love for Rilo Kiley 2007-09-05 11:26:00 In an interview with Incendiary magazine in 2006, Rilo Kiley
's frontwoman Jenny Lewis spoke about "selling out":"I try not to covet the music that I love, I’ve done that in the past, where something becomes popular and then suddenly I don’t want to go to the shows anymore. I think selling out is a lewd point when the music stays the same. So if the music is pure, then why not offer it out to the people and give them something better than, you know, Fall Out Boy or other crap that’s on the radio."Rilo Kiley's new album, Under The Blacklight, puts Jenny's answer to the test. Having moved to a big label, the new CD is unabashedly poppy and commercial. I love Rilo Kiley, I thought the previous album, More Adventurous, was a work of beauty. And now there was this '80s referencing Jenny-as-Debby-Harry gig, one on which only two tracks sound like traditional Rilo Kiley. In my review of the album, I asked: "Can there be an accommodation with old and new fans? Will the old fanbase buy
Time travel: 1979 2007-10-01 11:12:00 As summer approached in 1979, we moved out of the house where I had spent all of my life into a new one, in the same suburb. It was a great house. It's top two floors had been bombed off in World Way 2. My brother and I were given a spacious room each in the cellar, which had been renovated accordingly. It was brilliant. Privacy! Next door lived a Lutheran pastor with two wholesome blonde boys (one one them was briefly in my class at school) with Danish names. I don't think that Pastor wanted his little angels hanging with us ruffians, so in three years living next door to Flanders, we never even talked with Rod and Todd. But my life was not rendered incomplete by the snub. Teenage depression, on the other hand, together with low self-esteem and unresolved issues following my father's death two years earlier, were a blight in my life. As ever, music and football were my refuge.Chic - Le Freak.mp3In the wake of Saturday Night Fever, disco became a dirty word. Yet, disco was never pro
Time travel: 1978 2007-09-27 10:16:00 By 1978 I was one messed-up kid. The only thing that kept me happy was music and football. I spent prodigious amounts of money on records, financed largely by the largesse of my dear grandmother and chance discoveries of cash in places I had no reason to explore (theft is such an ugly word). Needless to say, I did get caught for my creative means of funding my rapidly growing record collection. The punishment, other than a generous dose of corporal discipline, was confiscation of said collection. So for a while -- it might have been weeks, but felt like months -- I depended on taping music from the radio more than I did before. I had also discovered the joys of '50s rock 'n roll (Gene Vincent was my favourite of that lot) and '60s music. In late 1977 I had become a Beatles fan after listening to side 3 of the red album; "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" made me fall in love with the so-called Fab Four, and it remains my favourite Beatles song. As for contemporary music, punk happ
In the middle of the road: Part 1 2007-10-12 10:49:00 I suppose one might label the songs that will populate this series as "Guilty Pleasures". I have used the term myself, but actually object to the notion that one should feel embarrassed about enjoying music, even if our friends from the Taste Police might not approve of it. Far better than conceding a "delicious embarrassment" at enjoying the mid-tempo sounds of Boston or the Doobie Brothers, one should acknowledge that this is damn good stuff best played on the long road with the windows down as the wind blows through one's hair. Embarrassment is for losers.Player - Baby Come Back.mp3The song which inspired this series. The chorus is utter genius, and listen to the bassline and that distinctive guitar part. But the best moment comes at 2:35 when the backing singer hits the falsetto in echo of the vocalist's "nothing left for me".Nicolette Larson - Lotta Love.mp3This song was written by the Ronald Reagan endorsing whiner Neil Young. I don't remember him singing it, but it probably s Read more:middle
Pissing off the Taste Police with Carpenters 2007-10-06 12:48:00 OK, I'm cheating a bit. There are factions of the Taste Police
who adore Karen & Richard's music. Read this post as pissing off those branches of the Taste Police who would prosecute their Carpenters-loving colleagues.It is a little odd that the same members of the Taste Police who will defend the Carpenters are quite prepared to heap scorn on far edgier acts -- for lacking edge. Let's face it, you can't really screw to the Carpenters ("Song For You" and "This Masquerade" being exceptions), they were mostly a cover act, and fans of the Carpenters are likely to like James Blunt as well. And many Carpenters song were utter crap. But when the Carpenters were great, they were indeed great. Richard's arrangements could be exquisite. Perhaps the Taste Police forgives that. But Richard Carpenter, surely, is the least rock 'n roll man ever to have worn the pop mantle. All I'm left with is Karen Carpenter: one of the finest vocalists in pop ever, blessed with an astonishingly beauti
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